


Please, Just This Once, Stay

by lydiadeetz03



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora (She-Ra) Gets a Dragon, Adora (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Adora (She-Ra) has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Angst, Best Friend Squad (She-Ra), Catra (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Catra has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (She-Ra), Chipped Adora (She-Ra), Coma, Confrontations, Depression, Dreams and Nightmares, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Hive Mind, Hurt Adora (She-Ra), Hurt/Comfort, Mentioned Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra), Mind Control, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Nightmares, Not Really Character Death, Panic Attacks, Prime Dragon, Prime Dragon is named Modeus, Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra)'s A+ Parenting, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018) Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:53:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28684371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lydiadeetz03/pseuds/lydiadeetz03
Summary: In an alternate universe where Adora activated the Failsafe, but it took her life with it.The entirety of Etheria believes that their beloved She-Ra sacrificed her life to save their planet from the wicked Horde Prime, but that may not be the case. What if..Adora didn't actually die?
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 62
Kudos: 181





	1. Waking Up Without You

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy, there! This is the first fanfiction I've ever written, so I hope you enjoy!
> 
> I appreciate all kudos and comments! <3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra can't possibly go on another day without Adora there at her side. 
> 
> She doesn't have much of a choice.

As the days went on, it became harder and harder for Catra to sleep at night. She would toss and turn, thrash against the blankets, throw the covers to the floor and nearly smack her head against the headboard, but to no avail. Before, she could at least sleep a couple hours, but now..she couldn’t even close her eyes without reliving it all. Nightmares plagued her restless mind and made it impossible to think clearly. 

It had been two weeks since Catra had lost Adora to the Failsafe. She never wanted Adora to do this in the first place. Hell, she didn’t even want her to leave the Horde all those years ago..now look where they were. Catra, part of the Rebellion, and Adora, gone. Nothing more than a cold, limp body in her arms, and even though she was gone, she remembered holding onto Adora tighter than she had held onto anyone in her entire life.

Sure, Horde Prime was gone and Etheria was safe, but..at what cost?

It was obvious to Glimmer, Bow, and the rest of the Princesses. They’d lost their best friend, their beacon of hope, their protector, their She-Ra. But to Catra, it was as if she’d lost a part of herself. Every day, she felt the same ache in her heart that was almost like someone had reached inside of her and ripped out her heart, stomped on it, then shredded it to pieces in front of her, then simply left her to die.

Just like Adora had.

Stars, what Catra would do to be with Adora at that moment. Whether that meant being dead or alive, she would do it. Yet, Etheria didn’t need another loss at the moment. Adora’s loss was too fresh on their minds for them to handle another. So, no matter how painful it was, Catra tried to get through each day one day at a time. Her first duty was to check on Glimmer, which required her to actually get out of bed. That was a challenge in it of itself.

There were a few tense moments where Catra laid still as a board against the mattress, her heterochromatic eyes staring up at the darkened ceiling above. All of the muscles in her body seemed to have tensed, which made it harder for her to even consider sitting up. She didn’t want to get up, she didn’t want to move, she just wanted to lay there and be alone. 

Painstakingly, she stiffly turned onto her side to face the opposite side of the bed. Adora’s side. Well..what used to be Adora’s side of the bed. Now, it remained a freezing cold, empty void of where Adora used to lay. She could still vaguely feel Adora’s gentle touch, her delicate fingers running through her short hair and tracing down her cheekbones, then her jawline, down her arms and to her hands, where she would squeeze in just the right pressure that made one thing known to Catra. Adora always made Catra know that they were safe. Safety in her touch, in her words, and in her actions. Adora never ceased to protect Catra - protect _anyone_ \- from any sort of harm. Even if it meant giving her life up for it..she would do it for them. Always, anything for _them._ Anything for Catra.

In a daze, Catra somehow made it to her feet and off of the crushing void of the mattress. She stumbled blearily towards one of the dressers and pulled on her clothing, realizing her hands were shaking so badly she could barely get a grip on her clothes. It took her several painful minutes to actually get her clothes on, and even then she still looked disheveled. 

Her gaze drifted towards Adora’s jacket, which was draped delicately over a headless mannequin that had been specially made to hold the vibrantly colored jacket that her love used to wear. It had become something like a relic to Bright Moon, and to truly everyone in Etheria. They knew what that jacket represented. _Who_ it represented. Catra cherished that beautiful jacket like it was Adora herself, and it nearly was Adora herself. It was all Catra had left of that beautiful girl, and she wouldn’t ever let it out of her grasp. Sometimes she was tempted to pull it on and wear it herself, but it was just too painful to even approach the damned thing.

She ended up turning and walking towards the door in frigid silence. Then, exiting the room, she kept her head lowered ever so slightly. The entire palace of Bright Moon was eerily quiet, mostly because people were still mourning Adora’s death. She walked down the brightly lit hallways and maneuvered her way until she finally made it to Glimmer’s bedroom. She used the back of her fist to knock carefully on Glimmer’s door. She heard the quiet “ _Come in,_ ” from inside and walked in, closing the door once she was in. 

“Hey, Sparkles..” Catra called up to Glimmer’s floating bed, angling her head to look upwards. “Is Bow up there too? Or is it just you?”

There was a tense moment before she finally heard Glimmer’s small voice respond. “No. It’s..It’s just me _._ ”

“Just..wanted to check in. Need anything?” 

“Would you come up here? I don’t want to bother Bow, but..I can’t be alone right now _._ ”

As much as Catra didn’t particularly want to, she knew that being a good friend required sacrifices. Nobody had to tell that to her twice. Shuddering, she shook her head and hopped up the steps to Glimmer’s bed carefully, before finally making it up to the Queen’s bed and climbing on. She immediately was pulled into a tight hug, and Catra simply let her arms wrap around the other girl’s body and hold her. She could feel the Queen’s tears on her shoulder, but she didn’t jerk away or tell her to stop.

Catra wanted to cry too. 

\-- -- -- --

The first thing she remembered was the cold feeling of something metal-like against her pale skin, and instantly she knew something was wrong. Everything was practically the same color, with white and greys, then little bits of neon green here and there. She squinted as her eyes opened from how bright the room was. Her eyesight was still blurry, but the more she blinked, the more the blurriness decreased. She tried to move her hands to rub her face, but they were restrained to the sides of the bed with thick ropes that she didn’t have the strength to tug at. She let out a soft groan as she uncomfortably shifted slightly, yet she was barely able to move an inch. Every molecule of her body ached with a dull pain that never seemed to cease.

She was starting to regain some of her consciousness, and as she became more aware of her surroundings, the more panicked she started to become. She didn’t recognize this place, not right away at least, and the heavy tone of this room made it clear that this place wasn’t anywhere in Bright Moon.

Her mouth was dry and parched, probably because she hadn’t drank anything in awhile, so when she opened it, it felt like there were invisible balls of cotton stuffed down her throat and over her tongue. Her voice was hoarse and nearly painful to use, but nevertheless, she needed answers.

“Catra..?”

“ _Your Catra isn’t here. She won’t be saving you anytime soon._ ”

She vaguely recognized the voice, but with her restricted movement, she couldn’t turn her head to see who it was talking to her. If she could just see their face..

“Where..Where am I?”

“ _You’re safe under Prime’s healing light._ ” A figure approached her bedside, hands clasped behind him. He had an intimidating presence, and with a jolt and widened eyes, she realized exactly where she was. Everything was coming back to her..

“ _There is no darkness my light cannot pierce._ ” He mused as he delicately placed his hand on her jawline, causing every muscle in her body to tense, yet her body continued to tremble with petrifying terror. 

“ _Even yours, Adora._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All comments and kudos are appreciated! Stay tuned for the next chapter :)


	2. Horde Prime's Healing Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Horde Prime makes an entrance.
> 
> There’s nothing Adora can do about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !! TRIGGER WARNING !!  
> This chapter contains: Electrocution via taser
> 
> It isn't necessarily graphic, and it's only at a short portion of the end of this chapter. Still, please be warned.
> 
> All comments and kudos are appreciated! <3

“What do you want from me, Prime?”

Adora hadn’t expected to blearily open her eyes and see her oldest enemy standing before her, the person she had sought to annihilate. Truthfully, she didn’t expect to open her eyes at all, yet, here she was. Although she was still woozy and uneasy, she knew for a fact she wasn’t in Etheria. She had to have been on Horde Prime’s ship, and just that thought alone gave her the surge of strength to pull herself up into a sitting position.

It was too good to last, as Prime grabbed hold of Adora’s lower jaw with one hand, squeezing her cheeks with his sharp, metallic fingertips. Her head was pounding as if she were hungover, feeling as if her brain was trying to claw its way out of her skull. She let out another groan, trying to keep her firm glare on Prime in the process. 

“I think you know, Adora.” The way he said her name was filled with malice, rage, almost  _ disgust _ . He had a sly grin on his face as his eyes narrowed down at her. She tried to yank her face away from his grasp, but to no avail.

“I don’t even know how I  _ got _ here, Prime,” She snarled in reply. “So how could I  _ possibly _ know what the hell you want?!” She added in an aggressive tone, a surprising feistiness in her that she didn’t even know she contained. If she was here on Prime’s ship, then..

_ There’s nobody protecting Etheria. He could do whatever he wants with it if I’m not there..if She-Ra isn’t there..  _

“What did you do to Etheria?” Adora’s voice started out quiet, then raised as annoyance bubbled up inside of her. She was desperate for some form of an answer. “I swear, if you even laid a finger on any of those people on Etheria, I will-”

“Now, now..Calm yourself, child.” Prime murmured in a sickeningly sweet tone. “I guess you really don’t remember anything, hm?” He chortled with a shake of his head. “Do not worry, child. You used your little magic trick to deactivate the Heart. I couldn’t harness its power.” 

Letting her face go, Adora ended up falling back onto the stiff mattress under her. She could barely find the strength to hold herself up, her erratic and panicked breathing pattern not helping her condition at all. She was trying to calm herself, yet it was near impossible with what was going through her mind at the moment.

“Yet, the power of it all was just too much for your mortal self to handle..” Prime paused for a moment to shoot Adora a glare out of the corner of his neon green eye, letting out a calm exhale as he crossed the room.

“If it weren’t for me, you would’ve died, but I was lucky enough to find you. You’ve been in a deep, deep sleeping state for about two weeks now. Your  _ Catra  _ abandoned you..” The sharp way Prime had said Catra’s name made Adora flinch slightly, a protective feeling welling up inside of her. She couldn’t possibly protect her from here, wherever in space they may have been. “My sources tell me that everyone thinks you're dead. They’ve given up on your return, Adora..”

Adora could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears, her breath hitching in her throat. She kept her glare on Prime strong and with as much hostility as she could muster. Her eyes were narrowed nearly to slits, bristling with such bitter, incredulous rage. It was hard to ignore how one of the veins in her head looked about ready to burst, along with her once chalky face now reddened like a tomato. Her head shaking indignantly, she couldn’t hold back the outburst that was building internally. “No.” She stated firmly, nearly hesitating as she continued. “No, they wouldn’t do that.  _ Catra _ wouldn’t..Catra wouldn’t do that! I know she wouldn’t, not to anyone! Not to..not to  _ me. _ ”

“I would never lie to my children, Adora. Some truths are just..too much to handle for Etherians. They’re so outward with their emotions that I expected such a response. Especially with someone of the likes of  _ you. _ ” Prime’s accusatory tone sent chills down Adora’s spine as he crossed the room yet again, coming closer to her bedside.

“What are you going to do to me then, kill me? Get your revenge on me for foiling your plan?” Adora exclaimed with a growl, her brows angling and furrowing with a fiery look in her usually placid eyes. 

Prime let out a chuckle under his breath, which then turned into a laugh. “No, my child. Even if I did kill you, She-Ra is sure to return. Lucky for you, however..” He traced a finger along her jaw, ending at her chin and drawing his finger away after a tense moment.

“.. _ Everyone _ has a place in my Empire.”

Adora felt her heart sink as the words rang in her ears, seeming to start to play on loop in her head. She hated to admit it, but the dismayed look on her face said it all. She was..terrified. What could he have possibly meant by that? 

“If you think your threats will work on me, you’re wrong.” She growled, despite the shakiness of her voice. “I’ll never let you get your hands on She-Ra, or any of Etheria.”

“As much as I admire your ambition and your courage, even despite the vulnerable state you are in, you will have no way to stop me from finally crushing Etheria under my heel.” Prime responded in a dismissive and carefree way, shaking his head slowly. “I’ve had enough of you. I’ll be seeing you, Adora. Soon..very soon.”

As Horde Prime’s footsteps echoed out of the room and down the corridor, Adora had regained some of her strength and started to yank and tug at the bindings that held her down to the bed, the ropes in a surprisingly tight knot - nearly as tight as the one forming in Adora’s gut. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted two of Prime’s clones entering her room, one with hands at its sides, the other with hands folded neatly behind it. The first clone approached her bed, while the other was hovering near the exit. 

The clone at her bedside had the usual blank expression that all of the other clones mimicked, and despite its attempts to hold her down, she continued to thrash. She let out a grunt as she was pushed down against the mattress with a bit more force on her chest, and there wasn’t much else she could do against it. She still wasn’t at her full strength, so it would be unlikely to be able to overpower the clone at the moment. Eventually, the clone undid the bindings and ushered Adora towards the exit of the room, holding her wrists together behind her back.

She thought she had the advantage in that moment, despite her feet still being wobbly and her hands being held back - yet if she could just catch the clone off guard, she’d get the upper hand. She started to bite at the dried skin on her lower lip. As they approached the exit, as well as the other clone, she tore herself out of it’s robotic grip, spinning on her heel to try and regain some of her teetering balance.

_ This is it. _

She raised her hand to the sky. Her eyes flashed a bright, cerulean blue, the kind of eyes that would light up a dark room.

_ “For the Honor of Graysk-AGH!”  _

Her exclamation was shortly cut off by an abrupt, pain-filled scream that seemed to echo through every corridor of the ship.

There was a flash of movement in her blindspot. The second clone had advanced towards her, hand outstretched. As time seemed to slow down, Adora knew it was too late to try to defend herself. The clone jabbed something against the middle of her back.

There was only a split second before an electrifying pain roared against her skin, sending waves of excruciating pain through her entire body and making her spinal cord feel like it was on fire. 

A searing inferno of pain raged inside of her, and the longer the electric weapon was left on her skin, the more she felt her consciousness slipping from her fingers. The feeling was too strong, and in her already weakened physical state, she just couldn’t handle it anymore. It didn’t take long for her vision to black out, her eyes rolling back and nearly touching her skull.

Adora collapsed to the frigid cold floor, still twitching and flinching from the lingering feeling of electricity on her back. The second clone took the weapon it had used and set it on a holster on its belt - which would be returned to Prime once an unconscious Adora had been delivered to him. Prime had entrusted this clone with a taser, just in case their prisoner had gotten hostile and needed to be contained. The two clones took hold of Adora’s arms, one each, and hoisted her limp body off the floor.

They were taking her to Horde Prime’s sanctum, which was like a laboratory of sorts, except it was far crueler than that. Nearly all of the noble clones were in the audience, watching all the action as it played out.

Adora was the next victim. 

And now, Adora was solely at the mercy of Horde Prime. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my beta reader says that horde prime chortles like an old british guy who just read an exquisite joke in the newspaper whilst sipping his morning tea. You’re welcome.


	3. An Unexpected Message

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Glimmer share a soft bonding moment and recall some memories they had of Adora.
> 
> A message from a well-known enemy disrupts their peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my beta reader cried herself to sleep the night i showed this to her
> 
> she used all the tissues ur on ur own pal

“You..uh..want to talk about it?”   
  
The room had been mostly silent before Catra spoke up, the only sound coming from Glimmer’s sobs. Catra figured that it had been a long enough time to break the tense silence between them. The distressed Queen was starting to calm down, with her crying muffled in Catra’s shoulder quieting the longer they laid there, arms wrapped around each other. Neither person had said anything for an uncomfortably long time. 

“..It was a nightmare. It was just..terrible. I saw her. She-She kept..” Glimmer’s voice was on the verge of breaking, nearly unable to complete her sentence.

“I know, I know..” Catra murmured with a slow shake of her head, letting Glimmer continue to keep herself huddled against her body. She felt the tears lingering on her shoulder, and if she didn’t know any better she would have rubbed them off, but now was not the time. Her tail was resting near Glimmer’s ankle, not wrapped around it. She only did that for Adora, and she wasn’t here right now.

“What happened next?” She’d heard so many of these types of nightmares, with her own in the mix, that she was pretty much used to these. No sleep meant no nightmares - that was Catra’s logic. Adora would have frowned upon it, but she was beginning to grow desperate for something,  _ anything _ , that would ease her mind.

Catra wasn’t sure she’d be able to handle another nightmare. 

“She was calling out to me, over and over..’ _ Glimmer! Glimmer!’ _ ..But whenever I’d try to reach out to her, she’d just get farther and farther away until-”

“She disappeared?” 

Glimmer let out a small whimper in response. Catra didn’t even need to look down to know she was nodding, a small frown on her own face as she tried her best to be comforting to her dismayed friend. 

Catra always made it seem like she hated being torn apart from Adora the same amount as everyone else, yet the internal agony that wrecked her mind and the restless nights she spent thinking about her made it a hundred times worse. She longed to feel Adora’s presence, to look into her eyes, to see _ her _ again. Anything she could do, she would do.

Alas, it was horridly impossible, which only made her more distraught.

“I miss her, Catra.” Glimmer whimpered into the other’s shoulder as Catra rubbed circles on the Queen’s back. That always worked with Adora, so she figured it would work with Glimmer too.

“ _ Everybody  _ misses her, Sparkles..You’re not alone here.” Catra said in a slightly sarcastic way, yet there was still that hint of sadness in her voice. She let out a slow exhale through her nose and closed her eyes, trying to keep her voice even as she continued to speak. “Yeah, it’s going to take awhile to get over Adora..but I don’t think she would want us moping around because of her.” As Catra said this, she could practically imagine Adora’s voice half-scolding her in her head, visualizing her with the hand motions she made when she talked and the pleading look in her eyes when Catra wouldn’t give in.

_ Adora was always so cute when she’d get frustrated at me.  _ Catra thought with the tiniest smile she could possibly muster on her face.  _ Well..occasionally, I guess. She got pretty intense.  _

Her smile faded as she returned her gaze to Glimmer, her ears flicking back slightly as she realized that Glimmer had been saying something while Catra had been recalling all the times that Adora nearly flipped her lid. “I’m sorry, what’d you say?”

“I  _ said.. _ I think we need to do something more for her. We need to..build something, like a giant statue in Bright Moon. Something in crystal, maybe?”

“Adora wouldn’t want those kinds of frilly things to represent her, whether she’s She-Ra or not. She’d want something low-key, nothing too..extravagant.” Catra corrected with the slight shake of her head. 

Her tail moved to rest behind her on the bed again, and her arms loosening on Glimmer. She’d calmed down, and Catra figured it would be fine to retreat from the close contact of someone who was already in a relationship. Sure, Bow was forgiving and didn’t overreact often, but she didn’t want to risk him barging in and assume they were cuddling or some weird stuff like that. 

“I guess you have a point..Adora was always weirdly picky with things like that. I guess I can’t blame her, she had a hell of a time when she first came to Bright Moon..” Glimmer murmured with a small smile on her face, as if she were remembering something.

  
“Oh, really? Go on, please.” Catra joked with a quirk of a brow, her tiny smile returning to her face. “This oughta be good.”

“Alright, alright, so-” Glimmer adjusted herself to be sitting up on her floating bed instead of laying on her side, with Catra following suit. It was hard to ignore how Glimmer’s face was streaked with mascara, but Catra tried to ignore it as the story continued.

“-it was Adora’s first day here in the palace, so she had no idea what an actual  _ bed  _ felt like. Long story short, she ended up killing the bed. Literally.” Glimmer snickered with a cheeky grin on her face, her laugh not as boisterous and loud as it usually was. The story might have been painful to tell, but it was so hilarious that neither girl could contain their laughter.

“Hot  _ damn _ , that is  _ priceless _ !” Catra exclaimed with a cackle, nearly collapsing backwards onto the bed again, her tail thumping quietly against the mattress. “Why can I visualize that perfectly in my head?”

“You should have seen her, she was  _ covered  _ in feathers!” Glimmer exclaimed in addition, her laughter returning to its usual, loud volume. Both of them laughed on and off about the story, before their laughter only faded into small, nearly silent chuckles. 

“Those were the good days..” Glimmer let out a long exhale, resting her chin on the palms of her hands. “..That was before I became Queen. Before..everything.”

“Before I ever told Adora how I felt about her.” Catra added, her gaze lowering solemnly and towards her lap. “Before I messed up everything.” She sighed with a small shake of her head, the once cheerful mood deflating into pure sadness again.

Catra tried to cherish that moment where both of them weren’t on the verge of tears, but it was truly difficult considering everything that was weighing on her mind like a boulder. Glimmer looked more joyful than Catra had seen her in awhile, and Glimmer saw Catra the same. Now, that joy was gone, and they were left in painful silence.

Catra’s ears perked after a long moment of numb, gut-wrenching silence, hearing the faint sound of footsteps rushing down the hall and towards the bedroom. She could’ve sworn she heard the monotone call of Melog along with the mystery footsteps. 

The door slammed open without a knock, and there stood an out-of-breath Bow and - as Catra had guessed - Melog at his side. Usually, the alien-like feline would stick right by it’s owner’s side, but Catra had ordered it to leave her alone. Both girls turned their gaze to look down at him from the bed.

“Bow?! What happened?” Glimmer asked frantically, teleporting from the floating bed to the floor where Bow stood, while Catra was left to her own devices to climb down herself. By the time Catra had gotten down to the group, Bow had finally caught his breath from running nearly across the whole palace to try and find them both.

“I-I was outside, just checking out the palace gardens when..when..” He gasped in a few short breaths before continuing. “I saw a Horde drone.”

Catra and Glimmer briefly looked at each other, an obvious look of anxiety in both their faces. Melog seemed to have sensed this and rubbed itself against Catra’s leg, trying to comfort her through this. “Then what?” Glimmer urged before Catra could even open her mouth, a sudden feeling of dread making Catra’s stomach flip, so she had kept her mouth shut to prevent potentially throwing up all over the floor under her.

“I shot it down, of course, but..but it was carrying  _ this _ .” Bow outstretched his hand towards them both, holding a device that looked very similarly to Bow’s tracker pad, but it seemed to have some sort of video message encrypted into it.

Catra instantly grabbed it, not wasting a moment to press play on the screen. She was nearly hugging the device to her chest, making it difficult for the others to watch the message. The narrator’s voice gave her unwanted chills up her spine, and as soon as she had heard it, she knew who it was. 

As the video played on, Catra’s expression morphed into one of horror and pure terror, something that Catra wasn’t used to showing in such a drastic way.

“What is it? What’s going on, Catra?” Glimmer questioned, trying to grab the device from Catra’s hands but failing miserably, as her grip couldn’t fight against Catra’s death grip. 

Catra willed the tears in her eyes to go away, blinking her two-colored eyes frantically in an attempt to hold the tears back, yet all the emotions piling on top of each other created a mucky cocktail of pain and fear - with a hint of dread - to take over. The device fell from her hands and onto the floor, nearly shattering on contact.

“Catra, answer us! Who was it? What did they want?” Glimmer exclaimed again, standing directly in front of her and shaking her shoulders to try and get her attention, both Glimmer and Bow looking desperate for some form of an answer to their never ending questions.

Yet, all Catra could hear was the scream. 

The shrill scream of someone being forced into the murky, green pool of Hore Prime’s “cleansing drug.” She had too fond memories of that pool, something that Catra never wanted to relive again. 

“.. _ damnit. _ ” The swear was nothing more than a broken whisper, nearly inaudible.

Melog let out a small, robotic mewl, looking up at Catra with a slight tilt of its head. It knew loss too well, and now that Catra was feeling this way as well, even it wanted answers.

“Prime. He got her. He..He got her.”

“Who did he get?” Bow asked tentatively, brows furrowing - along with Glimmer’s. There was a tense moment of silence, before Catra finally managed to speak the words that formed a plug in her throat.

“Prime..Prime got Adora.” 

The room went silent for nearly the third time that same day, the only sort of expression on anyone’s faces either being horror, terror, or a cruel mixture of both. Neither Glimmer or Bow knew how Catra was keeping it together so well, while they were on the verge of bawling their eyes out.

Yet truthfully, Catra was only hanging onto her emotions by a thread. It was all too much, all of the emotions that could possibly exist inside of her seeming to pile up on top of her, crushing her slowly but certainly.

Without another word and without shedding a tear, Catra balled up her fists, dug her nails into her palms, and pushed Bow out of the doorway with such force that could’ve easily knocked him to the floor if she wasn’t careful. Her tail lashing back and forth behind her, she forced her way out of Glimmer’s bedroom and started running in the direction of her and - what used to be Adora’s - room.

“Catra, come back!” Glimmer called down the hall, but Catra was too far down the hall to even attempt to hear her. Melog chased after its owner with a metallic meow, barely being able to catch up. 

Catra wasn’t even paying attention to Melog at her heels.

All that she could hear was  _ the  _ scream.

Adora’s scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All comments and kudos are appreciated! <3


	4. A Flicker of Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melog becomes Catra's therapist.
> 
> Entrapta introduces the squad to her latest invention. Finally, there is hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy, everyone!  
> I apologize for how delayed this chapter has been posted. I took a well needed break from writing, since I was feeling burned out from how frequently I was forcing myself to write. Now, my braincells are rejuvenated and I should be all good mentally to continue this series!
> 
> Also, thank you for 1k reads! I'm so happy that people are enjoying this series :)

Melog was barely able to slip through the door before Catra closed it behind her. Hands fumbling with the knob, she sunk down with her back to the door and her knees pulled up tightly to her chest. She hugged her frame firmly, in search of any kind of comfort she could find, even though she knew such a thing wouldn’t come. Thick tears cascaded down her heated cheeks and left streaks down her reddened face. She furiously wiped at her eyes to try to rid herself of the tears, but to no avail as they continued to flow freely down her face.

Catra ran her fingers through her short hair, grasping at the smaller strands in both hands and pulling her head closer to her knees, letting her forehead rest against them. She could feel her leggings gradually becoming more damp with each tear that fell from her cheek. No amount of rubbing and sniffling would do the job, and she completely abandoned that task and just tried to focus on something else. Something that wasn’t Adora, Adora’s scream, Horde Prime, none of it. She was desperate to make herself believe it was all a bad dream.

Yet, Catra couldn’t be more awake.

When her breathing pattern started to become irregular and her peripheral vision became nothing but a blur, Melog knew the situation was starting to get bad. It stepped forwards and tried to nudge Catra’s cheek with its metallic muzzle, letting out a low meow as it tried to snap Catra out of her miniature ‘episode’, as it had heard others call it.   
  
“Stop. St -  _ Stop _ , Melog.” Catra muttered between sniffles, barely able to look at her companion.

When Melog continued, Catra started to get agitated, which only made the inferno of emotions inside seem stormier and even more heated than it already was. She reached out with one hand and pushed its face away, a weak sob escaping her as she curled into herself a little more.

Melog sat there, only at the least a foot away from Catra. It looked concerned for its owner, yet it didn’t try to say anything. In its own language, at least. 

It opened its mouth, and a prerecorded “message” came from it.

_ “I will always love you, Catra.” _

Catra’s ears perked nearly instantly, angling towards Melog as her watery eyes snapped open. She raised her head tentatively, looking taken aback by the voice and turning her gaze towards where she heard it. A neverending ache in her heart seemed to become aware to her again as the message repeated.

_ “I will always love you, Catra.” _

“Melog..where did you-?”

_ “Promise.” _

“That’s..Adora. You..You saved that?”

Melog simply nodded its head affirmatively, letting out a low meow in response. It approached Catra again and forced its way into its owner's lap, purring softly as it laid across Catra’s thighs, seeming to be at peace. Its weight may have been slowly causing Catra’s legs to fall asleep, but it was better than the dull, numbing feeling of being alone during this tragedy. 

Fresh tears remained on her cheeks and lingered in her eyes, some still spilling down her cheeks as she gave a weak chuckle. She used the back of her hand to rub some of the remaining tears away before leaning against the door yet again. These types of moments usually left Catra drained and ready for a catnap, but she couldn’t bring herself to do that at the moment.

Catra was snapped out of her thoughts as a frazzled Glimmer and nervous-looking Bow - who was clinging to Glimmer like a lifeline - teleported into her room, causing Catra to jump up slightly and hiss out of reflex, which made Melog jump from it’s position on Catra’s lap.

“Damnit, don’t you guys know how to knock?!” Catra growled with annoyance, her tail lashing sharply behind her as she climbed to her feet.

“We’ve been  _ knocking _ for the last couple minutes, but you didn’t answer!” Glimmer exclaimed in an exasperated response, with Bow nodding reassuringly as returned to a normal stance next to the Queen.

“Oh.” Catra murmured with a blink. “Well, you should’ve knocked louder. Maybe I would’ve heard you then.” She added in a sarcastic tone, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned back against the door. 

Glimmer didn’t seem very enthused by the response, but before she could get a word out, Bow interrupted. 

“I don’t think this is a good time for an argument!” He exclaimed with strange, panicked enthusiasm, although it might have just been regular to Bow. He sounded rather frantic to calm the conversation. Quite frankly, Catra was glad. She wasn’t in the mood to be arguing with a stubborn Glimmer.

“We’ll continue this  _ later _ .” Glimmer responded tensely, eyeing Catra in a way that nearly made her smirk. She could be intimidating, but Glimmer wasn’t quite as talented in going through with her weak threats. “But for now, we actually have some good news.” Glimmer added with a low exhale, her expression softening slightly.

“Good news? Been about time.” Catra snorted with a raise of her brows. The joke even hurt herself, but she was better at making sarcastic comments than being comforting, if she was being honest. She noticed the shift of the expression of both Bow and Glimmer, and her smirk deflated. “Right, bad time. Sorry. Go on?”

“When we watched the message, we knew that we wouldn’t be able to find Prime’s ship with our own technology, but we thought it would be in our best interest to contact Entrapta.” Glimmer started, glancing at Bow as if silently implying for him to continue her statement.

“We contacted her on my trackerpad, and she told us that she had a new invention that would be very helpful to us. She also said that Wrong Hordak would be able to help us find the ship, so..I think we have hope. I think we’ll be able to get Adora back.” Bow explained with a slow nod, a tiny smile on his face.

“But..How do we know that Adora’s even alive? Not to be ‘negative’ or whatever, but this could just be a trick from Prime, couldn’t it?” Catra questioned with a perk of her ears and a quirk of her brow.

“We thought about that, but then we remembered that Swift Wind has a connection to She-Ra. We came to tell you about Entrapta before we went to go find him, since if he can still feel the connection, then Adora has to be alive.” Bow responded with a nod, his arms crossing against his lower back.

“So, what do we say to another Best Friend Squad rescue mission?” Glimmer offered with an almost playful quirk of a brow, a small grin on her face as she put her hands on her hips.

Catra glanced between the two silently, contemplating their offer and the evidence they provided to her. Adora could still have been alive, on Horde Prime’s ship, under his manipulative grasp. She could still be saved. Letting out a deep exhale and lowering her gaze, she let her eyes meet Glimmer’s, and then Bow’s. 

“ _ Hell  _ yeah I’m going with you. If Adora’s still out there, then you can bet I’m going with you both to save her.” Catra gave them a toothy grin in nearly a proud way, her tone of confidence seeming to spark a smile on both Bow and Glimmer’s faces. 

“Let’s go beat the  _ crap _ out of Prime.”

\---

It didn’t take long for the Best Friend Squad to arrive in Dryl, having Glimmer use her teleportation to get most of the way there. It was going to be a torture session trying to actually  _ get  _ to Entrapta, with the deadly maze that had stumped them once before, but Bow had a better idea. 

Luckily, Entrapta was able to answer the trackerpad and had Emily, her Horde bot that she reprogrammed to be her companion, guide them to the actual laboratory inside the technologically-advanced palace.

Once inside, it was clear that the tech-driven princess was in the middle of something. She and Wrong Hordak were working on something in the center of the room, which looked rather strange and couldn’t immediately be identified at first glance. 

“Oh, hiya everyone!” She exclaimed in her usual cheery fashion, both her and Wrong Hordak waving towards them.

“Hey, Entrapta.” Bow waved in response, catching Wrong Hordak’s wink and nearly blushing - for no reason in particular other than being thoroughly confused by it.

“We heard you had something that could help us find Adora?” Catra questioned with a twitch of her ears, feeling Melog rubbing against her leg. It seemed to have sensed how nervous Catra felt on the inside, despite her neutral expression. 

“Oh, yes! Wrong Hordak and I have been working on something that would be most beneficial to you and your adventure.” Entrapta started with a firm nod, using one of her pigtails to nudge the mystery object aside and walking deeper into her laboratory in her attempt to search for the item.

It took an uncomfortably long amount of time for Entrapta to find whatever mechanism she was looking for, making a rather loud ruckus in the back of her lab that made the group mildly concerned. Wrong Hordak constantly reminded them that she was alright and that she was only looking for the item that they had requested. 

“Aha! I got it!” Entrapta exclaimed, emerging from behind a pile of metal scraps and holding a circular tablet about the size of her face. It was almost like Bow’s trackerpad, yet it looked absurdly more complicated and more difficult to figure out. 

“What is it?” Catra furrowed her brows skeptically, taking a few steps closer to Entrapta as she approached and taking the device in her hands. She tilted her head in a questioning way as she inspected the object.

“It’s my newest invention! After what happened last time with Horde Prime, I figured we should cover all of our bases when it comes to chips. I used the data from the chips I collected, especially Catra and Spinnerella’s chips, and I made it into a tracker! Now, we can use this to find any chips that might have infected someone from Etheria!” She exclaimed with strange enthusiasm for such a rather dark subject.

“Wait, really? That’s..actually really cool.” Catra murmured in a slightly surprised tone of voice, subconsciously reaching to the back of her neck with one hand while holding the device with the other. The scar had caused an indent in the skin, which was a constant reminder of everything she now stood against. She ran her thumb over a corner of the screen, before Bow gingerly took the device from her hands. 

“How does it work? It seems pretty complicated..” He asked with a quirk of a brow towards Entrapta, who looked up at him with a bright look in her eyes at the question presented to her.

“Well, first! You have to turn it on with this button right here!” Entrapta pressed a button on the side of the tablet, causing the once darkened screen to illuminate. “Make sure that this antenna is pointing upwards, otherwise the signal will be choppy and, well, it won’t work if you don’t have  _ some _ sort of signal.” She pointed at the thin, silver antenna on the top of the device, then continued.

“If the device picks up a chip’s signal, you’ll get a notification here. Simply tap on the notification, and you’ll be able to track the signal. There will be a little chirping noise, which sounds like-” She then proceeded to imitate the noise she described, which sounded almost like a bird’s chirp. “-that. It comes from here when it picks up any sort of signal, and it’ll gradually get louder as you get closer to the chipped specimen.” She explained in a way that would help everyone somehow understand it, despite how much scientific research and work went into such a complexly designed piece of technology.

“It is a rather complex piece of technology, so you all might have a difficult time understanding it. Luckily, I programmed Darla to have the exact same technological abilities! so she’ll be able to guide you to wherever Adora may be!” She concluded with a smile and a confident nod, her gloved hands in shaking fists in front of her from the excitement of being able to share her technology with the rest of the Best Friend Squad.

Glimmer and Catra looked at each other, then at Entrapta with a perplexed look on their faces. They seemed completely lost with what the princess had explained to them, even though it was in the simplest terms the other could muster without having to dumb it down too much. Luckily, Bow was able to comprehend exactly what she said.

“That’s..a lot.” Catra murmured with an immense amount of confusion in her voice, awkwardly scratching the back of her neck. “Maybe you and Wrong Hordak should come along with-”

“We’re going to space?” Entrapta interrupted, abruptly coming extremely close to Catra, her eyes bright with wonder and eagerness for an answer, her smile slowly becoming brighter by the second.   
  


“First of all, personal space, please.” Catra started, giving the shorter princess a gentle nudge backwards. Melog took a step between the two as it sensed how uncomfortable it’s owner had become, letting out another low, warning meow.

“But to answer your question, yes, we will be going to space-”

“I’ll get the spacesuits and start up Darla! This is going to be fantastic! There’s so much more I want to do in  _ space _ !” Entrapta squealed in a childish way, grabbing Wrong Hordak’s hand and dragging him along with her as she ran eagerly towards another part of her lab.

“Are we really doing this?” Glimmer questioned, glancing between Catra - who looked ever so slightly uncomfortable with how close she had just gotten to Entrapta - and Bow - who was busy trying to work the device in his hands.

“We don’t have a choice.” Catra stated blatantly, her ears twitching as her expression became one of annoyance at the question the Queen asked her. “If we want to save Adora, we have to do this. Why would you even ask that in the first place?” She asked with a flick of her tail, letting out a short huff.

“Alright, alright..sorry I even asked.” Glimmer scoffed under her breath, turning towards Bow instead. She expected some sort of answer from him, yet he was too preoccupied to have even heard the question in the first place.

“ _ Bow! _ ” Glimmer exclaimed in an exasperated way, letting out a huff as he redirected his gaze from the device to Glimmer.

“What was the question?” Bow asked sheepishly, letting out a nervous chuckle that made Glimmer nearly flip her lid.

Before she could go on a rant, Entrapta had returned with her own spacesuit on and carrying Bow’s spacesuit, with Wrong Hordak carrying Glimmer and Catra’s suits.

“Adora’s suit is on the ship, but you guys need to put these on! We’re nearly ready to depart, I just need to grab something from the kitchen! Be right back!” Entrapta exclaimed, giving Bow his suit and Wrong Hordak giving Catra and Glimmer theirs before darting off and out of her lab.

\----

By the time Entrapta and Wrong Hordak had returned, carrying two packs of tiny food and fizzy drinks each, the squad had put on their spacesuits and were standing before the ship. Out of all of them, Catra was the one who looked the most nervous. Her tail was flicking anxiously behind her as the ramp to the ship lowered and opened so that they could enter.

“ _ Welcome, administrator. _ ” Darla’s voice murmured from inside.

“Is everyone ready?” Glimmer asked, cutting through the uncomfortable silence. Everyone looked towards her, then up at the ship.

“Let’s do this.” Catra responded with a confident nod, eyes narrowing with determination.

The team trekked upwards into the deck of the ship. The ramp closed behind them, and a short moment later, they took off.

  
_ We’re coming, Adora.  _ Catra thought to herself, feeling Melog rub against her leg comfortingly.  _ We’re coming to save you. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All kudos and comments are appreciated! Thanks for reading <3


	5. Spacesuits and Other Shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra gets hangry.
> 
> Glimmer and Bow cause chaos in the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy, readers! I apologize for such a late update again. Thank you all for 2k hits! I figured we could all use a little bit of a break from angst, so I decided we should have a cute Glimbow moment.
> 
> Updates should pick up again at a normal-ish rate. Not only do I have a little more motivation, but for..other reasons. My beta reader knows ;)
> 
> One last note: I'm not sure if ya'll can tell, but I don't really do a lot of swearing in my writing. So, I've had to mildly filter Catra a bit. Whenever you see frick/freaking, feel free to interpret that as the F word. 
> 
> Anyways, enough rambling from me. Enjoy Chapter 5!

Time in space seemed to move like molasses on a cold day. Hours felt like days, and days felt like  _ years _ . The ship didn’t feel like it moved nearly as fast as the crew wanted it to, but Entrapta had ensured them that it wouldn’t take nearly as long as they thought- thanks to her constant tweaks to the ship -and that certainly brought at least a little more hope for their rescue mission.

It’d been approximately three days on the ship, and the snacks that everyone had brought with them were dwindling. Nobody particularly felt like sharing, either.

Entrapta missed her tiny food and fizzy drinks, and Catra got severely hangry when she didn’t eat. Glimmer and Bow were the only ones with some shred of cooking experience, so they were tasked with making supper that day - if “tasked” meant Catra yelling at them to do it or she would “Pry whatever crumbs of crappy food they had left from their supply and eat it her-freaking-self.” 

They were too worried for their safety to decline.

Catra took it upon herself to supervise Entrapta and Wrong Hordak while they piloted the ship, refusing to move from the creaky metal chair in the middle of the deck in order to make sure they didn’t get distracted and crash. She didn’t bother trying to steer, she just sat there, tail-tip flicking to and fro as she listened to Entrapta babble on about some new techy thing. 

She’d zoned out about five seconds into that discussion. 

All she could think about was Adora, and food. Mostly Adora, since she was her major priority at the moment, but the thought of food never left her mind.

“What is taking those idiots so damn long?” She muttered to herself sourly, glaring down at her feet.

\-- -- --

“Bow, be careful with that fl-!”

_ Thump. _

“Sorry!” 

“..flour.”

Glimmer let out a disgruntled exhale, looking down at herself and then at Bow- who was now face-planted on the floor. He had been carrying a rather large bag of flour and wasn’t looking where he was going, and then proceeded to trip over his own shoe and plummet to the floor with the bag. So, the flour exploded all over both of them.

And the floor.

And the counter.

It was everywhere.

“Well, this will be fun to clean!” Glimmer exclaimed sarcastically, nose wrinkling slightly as if she were fighting back a sneeze. “How much do we have left?” She asked, shaking her sparkly head of hair free of the powdery remains of the mishap. 

Bow pushed himself onto his knees and grabbed the crumpled bag, pulling it towards himself to peer inside. “Looks like about a quarter of the bag is left,” He answered, taking the hand Glimmer offered to him and climbing to his feet. He set the mostly empty bag on the counter as he straightened himself.

“It’ll have to be enough. I don’t think we can use the stuff we spilled- who knows what’s been on these floors?” Glimmer replied with a sigh, shaking her head.

As she glanced up, she realized Bow was standing directly in front of her, and before she could react, he touched his floury finger to the tip of her nose and quickly pulled it away.

“Boop!” Bow exclaimed with a chuckle, a playfully mischievous look in his eyes

Glimmer blinked in surprise, eyes widening before a playful smirk appeared on her face. The room filled with the sounds of Bow’s laughter as she quickly bent down and scooped up a handful of flour from the floor. They locked eyes, both of them standing in a face-off. Glimmer took the first move and started to chase him around the kitchen, her arm held up as if she were about to throw the flour at him.

“I’m gonna get you!”

“You’ll have to catch me first!” Bow teased in reply, letting out a dramatic, theatrical yell as the lump of flour was tossed at his back, causing a cloud of it to burst off of him. 

It had evolved into a flour-throwing showdown- a very  _ competitive  _ flour-throwing showdown.

They were both laughing like hyenas and very thoroughly covered in flour. The floors were not any cleaner, and neither were the counters. They’d turned an already big mess into a  _ bigger  _ mess. The mere thought of cooking had been simply forgotten, and all that mattered to both of them was winning this showdown.

This went on for several minutes, and ended with both of them surrendering and sprawled out on the floor, out of breath from the adrenaline. Between gasps, they would let out little chuckles and giggles, yet neither of them spoke a word. 

Catra must have heard their squeals and laughter, because not too long after the showdown ended, she barged into the kitchen. Bow and Glimmer could nearly see the metaphorical smoke coming out of her ears, her eyes narrowed into a nasty glare.

“What the  _ hell  _ is going on here?” She demanded as she glared between the two, her nose wrinkling up a little, and then a little more. 

“I thought I told you two to start making din- di-  _ a-choo! _ ” Catra’s words were cut off by a high-pitched sneeze, causing her to shake her head shortly afterwards.

“..Bless you.” Bow snickered, visibly trying to hold back his laughter. 

Glimmer, on the other hand, couldn’t hold hers back, promptly bursting out in laughter, which caused Bow to join in as well. 

It was obvious that Catra wasn’t too enthused by this, seeing as her face flushed red immediately. “Agh! Damn you both! Just- Just start cooking! She exclaimed, visibly flustered by their reactions to her  _ perfectly normal  _ sneeze. She whipped around and stormed out of the room, swearing under her breath with boiling, incredulous rage.

Once Catra had left, the two finally managed to pull themselves together, the laughter now simmered down to the occasional giggle. Now on their feet, they attempted to help each other get the flour of their clothes, although it was nearly impossible to get all of it off. Their spacesuits would cover most of it later, but for now it was still noticeable that there had been some sort of flour incident.

“You’ve got some on your face, Bow.” Glimmer giggled in a joking manner, and as he looked in her direction, she tapped the tip of his nose with a floury fingertip. “Boop! Got you!”

Bow let out a chuckle, a bright, toothy smile on his face. “You’ve beaten me at my own game!”

“Good! Now, let’s clean this up so we can make dinner. Catra’s going to be livid if we don’t feed her soon.”

“Isn’t it a little late for trying to avoid a big blowout? She seemed pretty ‘livid’ already.” Bow arched a brow teasingly, nudging her arm with his elbow.

“Oh, shush. She’ll lighten up once she eats.” Glimmer huffed playfully. “Now, seriously, let’s clean this up.”

They set to work on cleaning up the flour scattered around the kitchen; Glimmer simply used a dustpan, while Bow used his broom-arrow to make an organized pile in the center of the room that Glimmer could scoop up once she was finished. They put the ruined flour in a bucket and set it to the side to be thrown out at a later time.

With the kitchen cleaned up to the best of their abilities, they started to cook some simple dumplings, which were the only thing they could really make with the materials they had. They were content with their results, and hoped Catra and Entrapta would be as well.

\-- -- -- 

When Glimmer and Bow had walked into the deck of the ship, carrying a plate of dumplings each, Catra was glaring out at the starry vacuum of space ahead, while Entrapta and Wrong Hordak chattered among themselves- although it was a rather loud conversation.

“The food’s ready!” Glimmer exclaimed, catching the attention of the rest of the crew and drawing them towards her like a moth to a flame. 

Entrapta told Darla to go into autopilot, and they all formed a circle behind the large metal chair and sat down, the food in the middle for anyone to take as much as they liked.

“This is actually not bad, you both. Took you long enough, but tastes decent nonetheless.” Catra commented after taking a bite of a dumpling.

“These are a little bit bigger than I hoped, but they’re nearly the perfect size!” Entrapta squealed excitedly, eagerly munching on her food.

The crew busied themselves with eating their food, and after a moment of sitting around, Glimmer had leaned herself against Bow and rested her head on his shoulder, gazing cheerily up at him.

“Thanks for cooking with me, Bow. You’re a great helper.” She murmured to him sweetly, pecking him on the jawline as a warm rosy blush appeared on her cheeks. She went oddly quiet after saying that, and Bow had a strong feeling something was up.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just..remembered when I first made this for everyone. We were on our way back to Etheria, Adora was with us, and everyone was so..happy. We were finally together. The Best Friend Squad.” Glimmer murmured in a quiet voice, glancing towards Catra and then meeting Bow’s eyes.

“I can’t imagine what Catra must be going through. I’ve been trying to go easier on her, but she’s not really giving me much to work with.” She added with a small shake of her head.

Bow wrapped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her gently, gazing down at her with gentle concern in his eyes. “I miss Adora too, but..we’re going to save her, alright? We’ll have the Best Friend Squad together again in no time.” He reassured her with an encouraging smile. “I’m sure just being there for Catra will be enough for her. Don’t beat yourself up over not being able to help her. You can’t help everyone, but you’re doing your best, and that’s what matters.” 

“You always know what to say to cheer me up.” Glimmer giggled softly, her eyes looking teary, yet she willed the tears away as she sunk into his arms. “I love you, Bow.”

“I love you too, Glimmer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments are always appreciated! Thanks for reading <3


	6. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Best Friend Squad finally arrive at the Velvet Glove.
> 
> Things take a dark turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: this chapter is 4k+ words long!! 
> 
> Kudos and comments are appreciated :)

The air in the ship had been suffocatingly tense during the few days that followed the dumpling dinner, which only made Catra significantly more impatient and anxious than she already had been. Everyone else looked to be enjoying their time on the ship and chattering among themselves, while Catra was having the worst experience ever.

The closer they got to Prime’s ship, the tighter the knot in Catra’s stomach grew. Her anxiety was at an all-time high, and her only comfort was Melog. She appreciated the crew’s attempts at trying to help and be comforting, but no amount of reassurance from them was going to calm the storm in her mind. 

The only comfort she wanted was Adora’s, and Adora  _ wasn’t there _ .

Catra knew it wouldn’t be too long until Adora would finally reunite with them, and she knew that she was alive. She couldn’t stand the fact that Horde Prime got his claws on her girlfriend, and it was going to be a hell of a time trying to get her back, but that wasn’t going to stop Catra. She owed it to Adora; after what happened the last time Prime pulled a stunt like this, she had to do this. Adora saved Catra, now Catra was going to save Adora.

“Guys,” Catra murmured, taking a few steps towards the command board of the ship to get a better look outside at the starry void. Melog followed beside her, pressing its metallic body against her leg. “We’re here.”

Glimmer and Bow approached on either side of the Catra and Melog, both of them looking substantially more nervous than they had before. The magicat didn’t even notice, too focused on her own anxiety. Entrapta’s device was chirping significantly louder now, which made Catra wince and lower her cat-like ears. 

“Can’t you make that thing shut up? It’s drilling a hole into my damn eardrums.” She hissed over her shoulder towards Entrapta.

“Nope! During my test runs, the noise wasn’t annoying at all..maybe I should make some tweaks to it, if it’s causing you distress.” Entrapta mused with a slight tilt of her head, gazing up in a pondering way.

“Yeah,  _ maybe  _ you should.” Catra growled in a pointed response, turning her gaze to Horde Prime’s ship again. 

The Velvet Glove was swarming with Prime’s clones, similar to a wasp’s nest. Robotic clones zipped around in their agile, platinum ships, some of them simply patrolling for intruders, and some dispersing into smaller battalions and away from the main vessel. A mix of stunning silver and sickening neon green stood out like a sore thumb amongst the dark abyss of space that the crew had grown used to, and it was easy to tell that this was exactly where they needed to be.

The day before, they had communicated to Prime and told him they were coming for Adora. They were doing the same thing Adora had when she had come to rescue Catra, they were going to feign surrender and save her, then escape when they finally got her. 

Catra had a wretched feeling in her gut that Prime knew exactly what they were planning, but she didn’t seem to care. This was the only plan they had, and it was the best one they could come up with. 

It had to work.

The thing was, Horde Prime most likely didn’t know they had Melog on board. The mechanical feline would play a major part in their plan, so that brought a little more hope in the plan’s success.

As the Best Friend Squad’s ship drew closer to where they were to land, everyone had prepared themselves for the events that were to follow, whatever they might’ve been. Glimmer wasn’t able to use her powers in space, so she brought her spear with her. Bow had his arrows all prepped, and Catra would simply use her bare hands. She didn’t need a weapon, and she didn’t want one.

“Alright, Entrapta and Wrong Hordak,” Glimmer turned to face the duo, trying to keep her voice level and “queenly” in hopes of showing that she was more confident than she actually felt. “You two are going to stay on the ship, but I need you two to hide. Be prepared to defend yourself, just in case someone breaks into the ship that isn’t us. Got it?”

“Why do I have to stay on the ship? I can be a great help to your mission! There’s so much tech inside of that ship..we could use it to our advantage!”

“I’m sorry, Entrapta, but it’s for the best. We want you to be safe, and we want the ship to be safe too.” Bow interjected kindly, looking much more relaxed than Glimmer. “Please, we really need you here. If anything goes wrong and we need backup, we’ll know where to find you.”

Entrapta nodded her head in response, not a single trace of disappointment in her body language. She just flashed them a smile and focused on steering the ship again.

“How are you so good at that? I’m appalled, how do you do it?” Glimmer whispered to Bow in an exasperated way, turning away from Entrapta as he did too.

“It’s really not that hard,” Bow chuckled, smiling down at her. “It’s not all that easy to explain either, but it’s a mix of your tone and the way you phrase things. I’ll tell you about it more when we’re not about to enter a potential deathtrap.” 

“Oh,  _ fine _ .” She groaned dramatically in response, obviously teasing. “You better tell me later, though! I need to know everything!” She added with a huff, playfully crossing her arms over her chest.

Catra was oddly silent throughout the whole interaction, not interrupting with any of her quips or sarcastic comments. She wasn’t even paying attention to their conversation, too busy working through the plan in her head for the thousandth time that day. She growled from deep in her throat, fixing her glare on Horde Prime’s ship with sharp, narrowed eyes.

“Catra?”

“What, Sparkles?” 

Glimmer came up beside Catra, hands folded in front of her as she looked towards her friend. She could tell Catra was nervous from the way her tail flicked to and fro behind her, and she figured now would be a good time for a little reassurance.

“I want you to know that..whatever happens in there,” Glimmer moved to place her hand gently on top of Catra’s, noticing the way she flinched at the sudden touch. Neither pulled their hands away, but Catra was definitely paying attention now. “We’ll be by your side, okay? We won’t let Horde Prime do anything to you. We  _ will  _ save Adora - and that’s a promise.”

“Promise?” Catra arched a brow, echoing the word as if even she didn’t believe it.

“Promise. Cross my heart.” Glimmer affirmed her with a nod, flashing Catra a grin. 

Catra returned her gaze to the Velvet Glove, eyes narrowing back into slits. Neither said anything, the short moment of comfortable silence seeming cherishable, at least to Glimmer. It wasn’t until Catra spoke up again that Glimmer actually looked her in the eyes.

“Thanks.”

“For what?” Glimmer questioned with a very slight tilt of her head.

“For..being there, I guess. For not exploding at me, even when you really wanted to chew me out.” Catra said in a quiet, wavering voice, a nearly hopeful look in her eyes.

“It’s what friends are for, right? I wouldn’t yell at you for something like that. I know you must be having a hard time with this, and I respect you and your emotions. I get it.” Glimmer gave Catra’s hand a squeeze, smiling warmly. “But, we’re going to get her back. We’ll do our damn best, and we’ll win. Together.”

“I think Arrow Boy is starting to rub off on you. If I closed my eyes, I would think I was talking to him.” Catra quipped in a sarcastic tone, chuckling afterwards.

“ _ Starting _ ? He’s been rubbing off on me since the day we met! I did  _ not  _ use to be like this.” Glimmer exclaimed defensively, letting out a laugh. Catra joined in with her, their laughter filling the room and drawing the attention of Bow.

“What are you two laughing about?” Bow questioned in a voice that suggested he was excited about seeing them bond, his brows raising with absolute glee. He came up on the other side of Catra, his grin brightening with his eyes.

“Oh, nothing!” Glimmer spoke before Catra could, although it was evident that they were definitely laughing about something. Bow decided against prying, knowing neither of them would budge.

It felt like ages since they last shared a good laugh together, and it was evident that they all truly needed it. Although, it wasn’t the same without Adora laughing along with them - Catra especially missed Adora’s laugh. It was warm, light, and absolutely  _ adorable _ . 

Catra pondered solemnly if Adora missed Catra as much as she did, yet tried not to dwell on it, as she knew that it would only bring along thoughts that were significantly more depressing. She tried to focus on the moment and cherish the friends she was laughing with now, as opposed to the one who was merely a spaceship away. Although Sparkles and Arrow Boy could be rather annoying and mushy-gushy, the more time Catra spent with them, the less annoyed she got at their antics. It was nice. She could get used to it.

Yet, somewhere in the back of her mind, she reminded herself that it wouldn’t last long.

Catra cherished this brief moment of pure happiness, as she knew that whatever happened next would spark anything  _ but  _ laughter.

\-- -- --

It felt absolutely absurd to be surrendering to Prime after everything he’d done to Etheria, and to the Rebellion in general. Even if it was all an act, it still felt sickeningly wrong.

While Entrapta and Wrong Hordak hid inside of the ship, Catra, Glimmer and Bow stepped out of the ship and into the Velvet Glove, holding their hands up in surrender. Melog accompanied them, yet remained invisible in order to keep it from being restrained as well. The clones that met them took their hands and restrained them, then started ushering them towards where Horde Prime was waiting for them.

After what happened last time this plan was in action, it was decided that only Bow would have the ability to communicate with Entrapta. The plan was to stick together and team up to take back Adora, so there wasn’t any need to waste multiple earpieces. They hoped they would be able to sneak in with only one.

The corridors of the ship were just as terrifying as they were the last time Catra encountered them. She was significantly shaking, merely walking through them again making her stomach churn as she recalled what happened last time she was on the Velvet Glove. It still terrified her to her very core, no matter the amount of reassurance she got that she would be protected from Horde Prime’s filthy hands.

Catra glanced at Glimmer, who was trudging along besides her, looking agitated from how tightly her wrists were held behind her. The Queen used to be an honored guest on the ship, yet now Horde Prime held a deep resentment for her and the rest of Etheria. 

They were peasants to him; nothing but mere ants to be crushed under his elegant foot. There was no care for what the Heart might do to them if he were to obtain its power, and that wouldn’t change any time soon.

The only thing Catra could focus on was her heartbeat, which pounded rapidly in her chest like an excited drum. Yet, her heart only pounded this way due to how anxious she was growing as her footsteps, along with the other’s, echoed throughout the monotone halls. Her chest felt tighter as she walked further through the halls, her breathing panicked. 

_ No, don’t do this now. I have to worry about Adora. If I do this here, I won’t be able to focus on saving her. I have to save her..  _ Catra internally scolded herself, ears lowering as she tried to calm herself down. She felt the faint brush of an invisible Melog on her leg, and she let her eyes close to focus on her breathing.

_ Crap, what would Adora be telling me right now? She’d tell me to breathe. Alright, seems easy enough. Breathing is easy.. _

_... _

_ Damnit, this isn’t easy. _

She briefly fluttered open her eyes, then squeezed them shut again. She drew in a deep, cleansing breath, like Perfuma had taught in her meditation classes. She held it for a few seconds, then exhaled slowly. She repeated the exercise until she could finally confirm that her heart wasn’t about to lunge out of her chest. It wasn’t exactly ‘calm,’ but it would have to do for now.

It didn’t take them nearly as long to get to Horde Prime’s sanctum as the group thought it would. It felt too similar to how the Best Friend Squad did this mission before, yet Catra knew Horde Prime. She knew that he had something up his sleeve. 

Her shoulders felt heavy with the amount of dread and anxiety swirling in a nasty storm inside of her, yet she tried to pull on the most confident expression she could. She gave quick glances at her companions, and they seemed to be trying to mimic Catra’s - albeit dwindling - confidence.

Catra tried not to throw up a little in her mouth the closer they became to Prime’s metal throne, nausea from anxiety stirring in her stomach and making her feel queasy. It was nearly like she was reliving a nightmare, something that she would wake up in a cold sweat and cling closer to Adora for comfort.

The short fur on the back of her neck seemed to bristle a little as she, Bow and Glimmer were forced into a kneeling position. It felt like  _ hundreds _ of glowing green eyes surrounding them from the “audience” of clones, and they were all staring intently down at them with their horribly blank expression.

Catra felt it the most out of all of them.

They all knew what she did, they all knew she betrayed them, they all  _ knew  _ her. Prime knew her. This entire ship knew her as “Little Sister,” and would never forget it. Prime wouldn’t forget it, at least.

Prime turned on his throne, leaning back in it in a regal posture, metal hands set on the cold armrests. He was eerily silent as he glared down at the group, narrowing his eyes to thin slits. Yet, his expression wasn’t suggesting he was angry. He was  _ smiling _ .

“Well, well, well..Look who finally showed up,” Horde Prime chortled, now folding his hands in front of him. “I’ve been waiting with anticipation for your appearance, Little Sister, Queen Glimmer, and Bow.”

_ There it is. _ Catra thought in a dreadful way as she willed herself to keep her composure, solely for Adora’s sake. Chills rolled down her spin and made her skin crawl as if millions of ants were climbing all over her. She swallowed hard, then slowly rose to her feet. Glimmer and Bow followed suit.

“Look, Prime,” She started, eyes narrowing up at him. “We’re only here for Adora. Just hand her over, and we’ll be out of your way.” 

“If only it were that simple,  _ Little Sister _ ,” Horde Prime hissed with a sly grin on his face, showing very little of his green teeth with it. “Do you think I don’t know why you came? It’s written all over your pitiful faces..” He mused, adjusting his legs to rest one over the other.

Catra let out a soft huff, somehow unable to open her mouth, lips quivering as she tried to keep herself together. She had to take another deep breath before she could mutter a word.

“Just..give..her..back.” She growled through tightly gritted teeth, face reddening as frustration boiled inside of her. 

“She’s already sworn her loyalty to me, dear sister. I think it would be in your best interest to leave She-Ra with me. You’ll only hurt her more by being here.  _ All _ of you.” Prime shook his head slowly, placid eyes closing as he did.

“We’ll do anything if it means getting her away from  _ you _ !” Glimmer exclaimed out of the blue, taking a sharp step forwards as her brows threaded together with fiery determination, on the cusp of a full outburst. Catra glanced briefly over her shoulder and gave her a nod, silently thanking the sparkly Queen.

Horde Prime opened his eyes and rested his chin on the back of his hand, letting out a low exhale and continuing to shake his head. “You Etherians..so predictable,” He muttered, his smirk disappearing. “I suppose I won’t be able to appease your stubborn natures. If you insist, then..” His bleak gaze flittered over to the entrance to his sanctum, using his free hand to gesture towards him.

“Come, child.” 

Catra, Glimmer, and Bow all whipped around as footsteps echoed from behind them, spotting two clones on either side of a hooded figure. This all felt eerily familiar to Catra, her only focus on the person entering the sanctum. Her tail gave a sharp lash behind her as they approached, realizing now the clones had been holding onto her arms, as if she were a flight risk.

They stopped as they approached Prime’s throne, and the hood came down.

Tears pricked in Catra’s eyes, although she willed them away in hopes that she wouldn’t be seen crying in front of Horde Prime, of all people. Her breath hitched in her throat, heart lurching.

_ It’s really her.. _

Adora’s sandy blonde hair had been chopped at her shoulders, now barely brushing her shoulder blades. Any loose hairs were slicked back, and she was visibly  _ shaking _ . She climbed the steps and dipped her head to Horde Prime in a formal bow, then turned to look down at her three friends from beside Prime.

Her sharp, neon green eyes locked with Catra’s teary ones, a small, placid grin donning her face.

“Hello, Catra.”

The words rolled off her tongue too easily.

If it weren’t for Bow placing a hand on Catra’s shoulder, she would’ve lunged for the staircase and clawed out Horde Prime’s throat. She narrowed her eyes and pulled herself away from Bow.

“Adora, I know you’re in there! It’s me-”

“I know who you are,” Adora cooed, the cold and eerie grin on her face seeming to grow a little. “And that’s exactly why I’m so much happier here. Without you, or Glimmer, or Bow, or any of the princesses back on Etheria.” 

“I know you don’t mean that, Adora. Horde Prime just wants to get She-Ra from you, he’s not going to make you any happier.” Catra persuaded, her heartbeat ringing in her ears as she took another step closer. “You’re so much stronger than me, which is why I know you can fight this! Don’t let him do this to you!”

“I’ve had enough of the fighting. I’ve found peace with Horde Prime, and I’m happy here. You can be too. All of you can,” Adora murmured in a nearly warm tone. “Join me in his light, Catra.” She held her shaking hand out to Catra, tilting her head slightly.

Catra would’ve grabbed her hand and pulled her into a tight embrace if it weren’t for Horde Prime’s smug grin from behind Adora. She would have destroyed her chip then and there, but she couldn’t move. 

“Let her go,” Catra growled, now directed towards Prime. Her cat-like pupils narrowed into thin slits as her eyes did the same. “Haven’t you already tortured us enough?” She exclaimed immediately afterwards.

“I thought you wanted peace? ‘Cause  _ this _ ,” She gestured around them at the clones, then pointed towards Adora. “ _ This  _ isn’t peace!”

Glimmer and Bow glanced between each other, then at Catra, a look of astonishment and uncertainty on both of their faces. They were dreading the response that her remark would cause, yet didn’t utter a word.

Horde Prime was terrifyingly silent, glaring down at the three and then towards Adora. He let out a soft “tsk” under his breath as he shifted in his throne. “I gave Adora peace of mind, Little Sister. She no longer has to be in woe and agony over trying to protect you and your planet. She is happier  _ here  _ than she ever has been in her life. Doesn’t that say something about your relationship with her?”

Catra stood there tensely, shocked to the core as the words struck a nerve inside of her. She took in a sharp inhale, yet no words came out. She opened and closed her mouth a couple times, yet her mind was blank. 

_ He has to be lying. He  _ has  _ to be lying. Adora doesn’t feel that way, does she?  _

“Enough of this!” Glimmer cut in again, seeing as Catra was in no condition to do so. “We’re taking Adora back,  _ now _ , whether you like it or not.”

Horde Prime rose to his feet, placing a firm hand on Adora’s shoulder. She seemed to flinch at the sudden touch, her eyes squeezing shut as if she were in pain, yet her eyes opened yet again and her dull, lifeless smile remained.

“You know what to do, child.” He spoke softly and in a quiet voice into Adora’s ear, before starting on his way out of the room, accompanied by the remaining clones on the platform, leaving the shaken Best Friend Squad alone.

Adora took her time coming down the stairs, now on the same level as Catra, Glimmer and Bow, yet keeping her distance.

“Adora, I don’t want to fight you. None of us do. Please, I know you can break free of that damn chip.” Catra’s voice wavered as she took a small step towards Adora, yet didn’t move any closer.

“Oh,  _ I’m  _ not the one fighting you,” She chuckled, grinning in a mischievous, sinister way. “ _ That  _ is.”

It was at that exact moment, as if on cue, that the floor started to shudder. A loud roaring echoed from below, and the trembling only got worse as the sound got increasingly louder. Bow and Glimmer nearly toppled over from the force, yet Catra was able to keep her stance. 

There was a flash of silver from behind Horde Prime’s throne, and then  _ it _ emerged.

The beast looked almost completely metallic, yet moved with such ease that it couldn’t have been a simple machine. It was similarly colored to everything else on this ship, monotone silvers and dark greys, with striking green eyes as if it was chipped as well. It looked almost like a flying snake, certainly the length of one, yet it was a little smaller than their spaceship - needless to say, it was absolutely humongous. It’s talons were the same color as it’s eyes, sharper than shards of glass. It’s huge wings were beating with enough strength to cause large gusts of air as it descended onto the platform where Horde Prime had been previously seated, glowering down at the group. It let out another roar, its teeth looking like large, green daggers in its mouth.

“Well, crap.” Catra swore under her breath, backing up so she was between Bow and Glimmer. Bow looked absolutely petrified, and Glimmer looked absolutely floored by the sight of such a massive creature.

“I would like to formally introduce my new companion,” Adora gestured up towards the beast, looking more significantly more calm and composed than the other three. “Modeus.” 

She ascended the steps and ran her shaky fingers over it’s muzzle, nostrils flaring with a loud huff.

“It was created by the First Ones..and is the last one to ever exist. A very special creature, yes.” Adora hummed as she turned to face the group again. She was specifically gazing down at Catra, and for whatever reason, she seemed almost hesitant to say her next words. 

She let out a shudder as her head dipped sharply, her hands still shaking as she grasped at the dragon with one hand and clutched her head with the other, her face scrunched in a hard wince. She rose after a moment, her eyes opening and revealing her white irises, which were not there before.

“I’m sorry this had to happen, but this is simply for the sake of peace for the entire universe.” She drew her hand away from Modeus and folded them neatly in front of her, her voice interlaced with the one of Horde Prime. She wasn’t in control of her voice anymore. 

“Modeus,  _ destroy them _ .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *in a voice call with my beta-reader*   
> Beta Reader *whispers dramatically*: prime dragon  
> Me, already thinking of the angst it could bring: prime dragon


End file.
